At issue is whether the city's administration and some City
Council members will agree upon including some measurable benchmarks and
greater scrutiny with a $498,420 contract with The Mobile Group, the same firm
that has managed the stormwater plan in the past.

"If they want my support, the administration is going to
have to do what I ask and that is split (the contract) into measurable,
quarterly objectives of one quarter," Councilman John Williams said after today's
City Council meeting, which did not include much of a discussion about the
contract.

Mobile Mayor Sam Jones, however, said a contract that
includes paying The Mobile Group per quarter is not going to work.

"It can't be a situation where every time we pay the
contractor, we have to come back to the council and say he's done this today
and he hasn't done that," Jones said.

The mayor said his administration is willing to provide quarterly
reports to the council.

"I don't know what else we can give," Jones said.

The Mobile Group is currently without a contract, and Jones
said they are not proceeding with additional work to ensure compliance with a
court-mandated consent decree agreed upon by ADEM and the city. The decree
lists a host of issues the city must meet in order to comply by federal Clean
Water Act standards or otherwise face hefty fines up to $25,000 per violation.

Copeland has said he would like to see the entire process
maintained within a city department and not outsourced to the private sector.

Williams today said he believes a contract that "provides
adequate oversight" within an agreement that is not bid out to potential
competitors is the right thing to do.

Councilwoman Gina Gregory, despite her vote in favor of The
Mobile Group's contract, said she believes Williams' proposal "was a good
amendment."

"I think the most important thing is we meet our benchmarks,
that we are in compliance, and we do the full scope of work," Gregory said. "If
we change how we manage our contract and how our contract is written, so be it."

Jones, also today, labeled the city's situation as being in "default"
with the state and that fines could be forthcoming.

"We are in a financial risk right now," Jones said. "Whenever
you are not complying by ADEM's regulations ... we are in the fining stages right
now. Hopefully, we can get around that."

An ADEM spokesman didn't indicate whether the city was in
any immediate risk of facing fines. The city has been fined in the past for not fully monitoring stormwater discharges into the city's waterways, largely because of differences among council members and the city's administration over The Mobile Group's contract.

"As
with all permitted facilities, the department expects the city of Mobile to
fully comply with all of the requirements contained in their ... permit, the
requirements contained in their storm water management plan, and the terms and
conditions of the recently signed consent decree," ADEM spokesman Scott Hughes
said in an emailed statement. "Any noncompliance can be addressed through our
enforcement processes."

ADEM is the state agency that enforces stormwater management on behalf of
the federal government. In order to help control pollution into waterways –
like Dog River, where pollutants are a visible issue -- the city is required to
monitor its stormwater runoff and submit a detailed report to ADEM each year.